Yzabelle Bostyn
A THRILLER telling the tale of Marbella’s early 2000s corruption scandal has become Spain’s latest blockbuster.
The thriller was only released last Friday but has already become the country’s Box Office best seller.
Directed by Daniel Calparsoro, ‘El Correo’ follows the “golden age that came after Spain joined the eurozone, portraying the trials and tribulations of a young go-getter and his rise to power, from the street to the pinnacle of the corruption that reigned during the years of the real-estate bubble”.
Aron Piper, well known for the Netflix series, ‘Elite’, plays Ivan Marquez, the young valet turned gangster as he rises up the ranks of an international money laundering operation.
‘The Courier’ in English, ‘El Correo’ sees Marquez transport huge amounts of cash between Spain and Belgian before becoming a cartel leader.
He is flanked by Maria Pedraza, of hit Spanish TV show, Money Heist.
As ‘dirty money flows like wine’ on the Costa del Sol, the pair work with corrupt politicians, bankers, construction entrepreneurs, sportspeople and even the Chinese mafia.
The film will touch on the infamous Malaya scandal, in which more than €33 million euros were exchanged for government building permits in Marbella.
‘El Correo’ was filmed last spring in Marbella, Malaga and Madrid, alongside international locations.
Based on real events, the film shows million dollar deals made at glitzy parties in Marbella’s luxury hotels and on yachts in Puerto Banus.
The Malaga hotel Huerta del Conde de Pinares de San Anton also features in the blockbuster.
It has already earnt over €530,000 at the box office, with some 73.301 people flocking to see the thriller.
This amounts to some €1,602 per showing, a recent record.
A production by Vaca Films, it also boasts the involvement of Netflix, RTVE, Movistar Plus+, Canal+ and Cine+.
It has also received funding from the Spanish Institute of Cinematography and Visual Arts as part of a European Union programme.
READ MORE:
- MALAYA MADNESS: HOW A JAMES BOND LEGEND, GERMAN COUNTESS AND FAMOUS SINGER WERE ALL DRAGGED INTO THE BIGGEST CORRUPTION SCANDAL IN MARBELLA’S HISTORY
- ‘Five to 10 grams a day’: Junta’s ‘cocaine chauffeur’ comes clean in latest trial over Andalucia’s unbelievable €1 billion ERE corruption scandal
- ROCA’S OUT: Mastermind behind historic Malaya corruption case in Marbella FREED on early release
